18 month old not talking yet

[JennJubie]

So I have a dcb who's 18 months. Sweet little guy, busy, but a pretty good kid. I've heard two words come out of him: dada and uh-oh. The thing is, he's only said these two words a few times, and says nothing else. Mom has expressed her concern about it to me.

I know he understands me. He'll follow commands, and gives every indication that he truly understands what I'm saying to him. He also points to indicate what he wants, or to show me something.

So I guess what I'm asking is would you be concerned? I know some kids are just a little bit later than others. And truth be told, I personally feel that this might be a case of pure willfulness.

[AmandaKDT]

I wouldn't be concerned yet, especially if they show that they understand you and tries to get his point across in other ways.

[KingstonMom]

I wouldn't at all be concerned. A Lot of kids talk much later than that. My son was 2.5 and my daughter as well before they said a whole lot of anything. The flood gates opened and they don't stop now. As long as the little guy is following direction etc then I wouldn't be worried.
In my town the speech therapy is such a long wait and the appts are so few and far between that even with my son signed up at 18 mos, he did not receive much 'therapy'. It just took some time. Hope that helps.

[JennJubie]

I really wasn't all that concerned myself. It's just that I know she's worried. There is nothing else at all that gives me any cause for concern with this little guy.

[5 Little Monkeys]

It is good that mom is concerned though. I had a child who was 3.5 and had almost 0 words. Communicated with pointing or going to get what he wanted. He also fully understood what we were saying and I could give him 4 step instructions and he would go and do them in order. He was a smart little boy other than the fact that he had virtually no words. Mom wasn't overly concerned. She finally noticed how much farther the younger kids in my care were with their vocabulary and signed him up for speech therapy. It was a one year wait list and so she had to resort to private therapy which was something like $100/hr, maybe even more? Whatever they do in therapy must work though, within just a month or so he had more words but was still quite far behind. Mom ended up loosing her job and staying home and I have lost touch with them. I always thought he and his older brother both had a touch of autism and would be interested to know what happened. (edited...there was more than just non verbal issues though)

At 18 months I don't think I would be overly concerned but it would be in the back of mind as something to keep an eye out for.

[Lou]

My own little guy was very much like that and didn't say much over anything until over 2. He is 3.5 now, and says A LOT, but his pronunciation is poor so he is currently in Tyke Talk before he starts school in the fall. For 18 months, though, I wouldn't be worried at this point.